Aftershocks
by Sailor143
Summary: This story picks up after "Taken." It is entirely from Felicity's POV.
1. Chapter 1

I love "Arrow" and the show's characters, but I claim no ownership over any of it.

This story takes place after "Taken" (4.16)

" Aftershocks "

" Sorry to just drop by but I can walk and I just broke up with Oliver."

And that was the statement 2 days ago that had led to Felicity Smoak staying in Curtis and Paul's guest room. She had told that she didn't want to intrude and could stay at a hotel but they had insisted she stay with them. And she hadn't argued, after walking out of her apartment building, getting in and out of a cab and walking up the steps to the men's home she was exhausted, her legs and back ached. Paul had told her that was to be expected and had given her some medicine and ice packs. Curtis had then led her into the nicest guest room she had ever seen, with a very comfortable bed and she had barely left it. The guys told her to stay as long as she like but she planned to get up today and go check into the same hotel her mom was staying at. Donna had come over the next morning, after Felicity texted her, she had been overjoyed and heartbroken for her baby girl. She had stopped by the loft, where Oliver was no where to be found, and had grabbed clothes and cosmetics for Felicity and then she stopped by the store and bought a gallon of mint chip. Felicity had stayed in the same pair of pajamas and ate the entire gallon of mint chip, now it was time to get up.

She left the room and met the worried glances of Curtis and Paul who were having breakfast.

"I'm fine, really." She smiled the best she could. They nodded.

She sat with them and made small talk, then Paul reviewed with her some exercises that he wanted her to be doing to strengthen her muscles. After he left for work Curtis drove the two of the them to Palmer Tech.

"Have you talked to Oliver?" He asked, breaking the silence.

Immediately tears came to her eyes. "No. He sent a few text but I didn't respond."

Curtis nodded.

"Thank you for not making me talk about it. I just can't right now."

"No problem and no forced talking. We are not talking about that topic." He then started talking about a new project he was thinking up. Felicity knew she should be listening but her thoughts wondered.

She spent the rest of the day in a haze. Donna came by at lunch and had been a nice distraction. But Felicity's thoughts were going a million different directions. Five months ago she would have said that breaking up with Oliver would be the hardest thing she would ever have to deal with. But in the last 5 months she had been shot and lost the ability to walk, been kidnapped and nearly killed in a gas chamber, been reunited with biological father and then had him arrested and then on top of all that was the Oliver situation. Life had been hard.

Felicity opened an Internet browser on her computer and booked a flight. She needed to get out of here, she needed to escape.

She left Curtis with her information and made him VP of the company. She told her mom not to worried and promised to check in every few days. She called Diggle and told him not to worry about her either. He had been understanding and told her to go and be careful. He'd offer to drive her to the airport but she declined. He told her not to worry about Team Arrow, that Lyla could help them through A.R.G.U.S if anything came up.

The best part of being a millionaire was that she would be able to buy what she needed as she needed it. She boarded the private jet and fastened her belt, the airplane lifted off and she started bawling. She sobbed until she fell asleep in her seat, then she woke up and sobbed some more. By the time she landed in Bali she was completely drained. She took a cab to the furnished house she had found online to rent and fell asleep, she slept for 2 days.

 _1 month later….._

She was doing yoga on the beach when her phone rang.

"Dig?"

"Hey Felicity." He sounded hollow and she felt dread fill her.

"What's wrong?"

"It's time to come home. Laurel is dead."

A day later she got off the plane. She had expected Diggle to pick her up but was only mildly surprised to see Oliver standing outside a black limousine. He opened the door for her and she slipped in. They rode in silence to the cemetery. He had taken her hand during the ceremony and she had let him, but when the service was over she had let it go and walked back to the limo.

He stayed by the grave for what seemed like forever. When he got in the car they finally spoke.

 **To Be Continued….**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Are you okay?

"Are you?"

"No."

"You know what you have to do, right? You have to kill that son of a bitch."

He paused and then replied,"I know."

The last time she had told Oliver to kill someone he had responded by telling her that he loved her. She had been shocked and felt broken because he walking away to go battle Ra's al Ghul. Now, he didn't follow up saying that he loved her because it didn't have to be said. He loved her and she loved him.

They rode in silence the rest of the way until they pulled up to the apartment they had shared.

"You can stay here. I'm going to stay with Thea for awhile," he said breaking the silence,.

"How is she? She looked pretty calm at the funeral."

"She's ok. Unfortunately she has had to learn how to deal with grief. She'll be ok."

"We all have had to deal with grief. Are we all ok?"

"I don't know. You didn't answer me before. How are you?"

Felicity let out a long breath. "I thought I knew the answer to that until John called about Laurel. What happened, Oliver?"

"I told her to leave him to me but she has always hated him, because of Sara and Tommy and she came along anyway. We were battling, she started to do the Canary cry and he threw a knife it went straight through her throat. She was gone before I reach her."

A single tear went down Felicity's cheek, she would cry more later.

She looked over at Oliver, he was staring out the window she could see in the window reflection a tears coming down his cheek. Last time she had seen him cry his mother had just died. She reached over and took his hand. He turned towards her, they stared into each other's eyes. She then leaned over and kissed him. She felt him immediately return the kiss. It was soft and gentle, she had just wanted to comfort him. As his tongue slipped between her lips she knew the kiss was still about comfort but not just for Laurel. She filled the gap between the two of them and kiss continued to deepen. Her hands were in his hair as their lips parted and he kissed her cheek, her jawline, by her ear and then her neck. She loved when he kissed her neck. She let out a soft moan and he looked at her as he lips went back to hers. When his lips returned to hers she felt him push against her, laying her down in the back seat.

"Oliver, stop. " He was now on top of her and his body which was covering most of hers became paralyzed. She pushed him back up and sat up, she straightened her dress down.

"Felicity…"

"Oliver, I'm sorry but we can't do this. It's not appropriate"

He ran his hands over his face and through his hair. He looked at her, "Are you staying?"

"For a few days at least. I have some things at Palmer Tech to take care of."

"What about Malcolm? A.R.G.U.S has been great but we need you, Felicity. I need you."

She watched him, she could see the pain on his face. "I know. I will stay until he is dead for sure. His funeral is not one I want to miss."

"What about us?"

Again they stared at each other. She knew he wanted to kiss her and Oliver Queen usually got what he wanted. She turned to open the car door and put one leg out.

"Oliver, we are mourning the loss of a close friend. All our emotions are heightened. This last month I've learned I need to take time process emotions and not let them get all thrown together. We will talk about us but I need time."

"I've missed you, Felicity…and I love you."

"I love you too, Oliver. I'll talk to you later. Thanks for the ride." She got out of the car and walked into the building.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When she got into the apartment she took a hot shower and then went to bed. If she hadn't been exhausted from jet lag she would have been distracted by the fact that her pillow smelled like Oliver. When she woke up the next morning it was the first thing she noticed. She buried her face in it for a little too long. Then she got up and did 30 minutes of yoga, you could take the girl out of Bali but she refused to let the Bali be taken out of her. Then after getting dressed she headed into Palmer Tech, by 6:30 she was in her office returning calls. She attended a few meetings with Curtis and the board, she was back in the swing of things and it felt really good.

Felicity nearly jumped out of her chair when her focus on work was interrupted by the booming voice saying, "Delivery from Big Belly Burger." Diggle was standing in her office doorway and in his hands were a bag of delicious grease and a soda.

"That's funny, I didn't order any food," she said with a smile as she reached out for the goodies and kissed Diggle's cheek. "Is it lunch time already?"

"Actually it's dinner time. It's 8:00, Felicity."

She looked at her phone to double check and of course he was right. "I was so caught up in catching up on work that I guess I lost track of the time." She unwrapped her burger and took a bite and then with a full mouth said, "Oh my god, this is amazing. Thank you."

Diggle took a seat by her desk and laughed, "You're welcome." As she continued to chow down he watched her. She looked good, a lot better than before she left. Her skin looked tan and her body was relaxed. They had been through a lot together since he first met her but the last 7 months had definitely taken a strain. But she looked good though and the time away had obviously been what she needed. There was no doubt that she was the heart and soul of their team, and maybe her strength had been taken for granted. He was definitely going to be keeping a closer eye on her.

"You're staring," Felicity observed and took the last bite of her burger and then started in on the fries.

Diggle smiled and nodded, "It's good to have you back, Felicity."

She returned the smile, "Thanks. How are Lyla and Sara? The funeral didn't seem a good place to catch up."

"They're good. Sara definitely has missed her Auntie Felicity but she loves the carved elephant family you sent her."

"Great! I have a scarf I got for her that will be an excellent excuse to come over and play."

"You never need an excuse, Felicity. You're family."

Felicity nodded. They sat in silence for a few moments, she slurped on her soda. Then she addressed the metaphorical elephant in the room, "How has he been?"

"Broken," he replied.

"John, I –," she started to reply but he cut her off.

"Felicity, no one blames you for leaving. Not even him, you know Oliver he takes full responsibility for everything that happened and then some."

She let out a big breath, "He would. But you know I didn't just leave because of his lying."

"I know that, Felicity. But I think you two need to talk. Don't you?"

She let out a breath, " Yeah...," she looked out the window. Now that she noticed it was dark outside, the city was lit up. She loved this city, it was home. "So, total change of topic but where are we on Malcolm?"

"He has gone into hiding. Lyla has A.R.G.U.S. trying to track him down."

"Well I can work on that tonight too."

"Good, if you're ready I can drop you off there. I need to get home to Sara."

"Sure, that would be great if you don't mind. I just need to close a few things out here."

"Take your time, I'll be outside." He got up to walk out the door and stopped and turned back toward the petit blonde, " Felicity?"

"Yeah?" She looked up from the screen, a pen in her mouth.

" I missed you."

She pierced her lips in a smile not wanting to cry. "I missed you too, John."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The Salmon Ladder, she had a love/hate relationship with it. She had really hoped that when she got to her work station that Oliver would have already left. But no, there was he was his body was sweaty and flexed as he went from bar to bar. She could feel her thoughts getting muddled and her own body starting to become damp. Then he looked her in the eyes as he hung from a bar and he smiled. She smiled back and then shook her head and walked over to her station. She thought she should feel embarrassed that he had caught her purely lusting over him, but she didn't. He did a few more reps while she logged on and started running her facial recognition search on Malcolm, she also started a few more traces. She knew the traces would probably come up a bust but she had to start somewhere.

Oliver walked over to her as she was starting the last trace. He had a towel draped over one shoulder and his body looked ripped and had a slight glisten to it. He stood behind her and leaned over her shoulder to see what she was running. As she felt his body getting closer to hers she found her heart beat quickening. She had the sudden urge to whip her chair around, wrap her arms around his body and forget logic and rational. She would be lying if she said that it hadn't taken all the restraint in the world to get out of that limo the other day and she wasn't sure she had any restraint left. As she felt her legs start to turn she heard the elevator doors open. She then turned the opposite direction of Oliver's body to see Thea walking in. And she was pretty sure she heard Oliver say, "damn it," under his breath as a response.

Felicity got out of chair and went over to Thea. She embraced her immediately and Thea returned the embrace. They stood there for a moment. Felicity then pulled back and looked Thea in the eyes and then asked, "How are you?"

Thea's eyes started to glisten. There was something about Felicity that made it impossible to put on a front, Thea felt that just as strongly as the other's did. "I'm really really….sad."

Felicity nodded, "Yeah." She let Thea out of the embrace and they walked up the platform where Oliver was still standing.

"Any luck on finding Malcom?" Thea had her hands tucked in her denim jacket pockets and she cringed as she said his name.

"Not yet, but I have tons of traces running, as well as my facial recognition software started, hopefully we can start ruling places out," said Felicity.

Thea nodded and then said, "I really want to kick some ass."

Felicity smiled and went to her computer and logged on to the Star City Police Emergency Response scanner and downloaded the most recent call out reports. "There has been increased amount of purse snatching with minor assaults reports around 20th Street in the Glades, most recent one was a hour ago."

Thea nodded, "Perfect, I'll suit up."

"I'll go with you," Oliver said.

"Please Ollie, I really just need to be alone. The bloodlust is gone now; I can handle myself without killing someone." Thea now had her hands on her hips as she stood up to her protective big brother.

"I don't like you being out there alone especially while we don't know where Merlyn is."

"More than likely, Malcolm is hiding in small hut in Asia. But even if he isn't, he won't hurt me. We both know that. Look I'll keep an open line and I swear to you, I'll retreat if it seems to be more then I can handle."

Oliver looked at her as he thought about it, he turned to look at Felicity. "What do you think?"

"I think, she is a big girl and I will monitor her from here the entire time."

Oliver nodded, "I'm staying here too then, if anything seems out of sorts I'll be right there."

Thea laughed, "Got it Mom and Dad, thanks." She turned to go suit up and Oliver smirked.

"She's right you know," Felicity said. "Malcolm probably is out of the country."

Oliver nodded, "Yeah, but he'll be back."

"How can you be so sure?"

" Because as evil as he is, he loves Thea…and that will be what gets him killed."

Felicity let out a breath and said, "Whenever I think my daddy issues are bad, I think about Malcolm and Thea and my perspective changes."

Oliver reached over the railing where he had a shirt laying and pulled it over his head. "He sent you a letter," Oliver commented.

Felicity's head snapped around, "Malcolm?"

Oliver looked her in the eyes, as if trying to prepare for her response, "Your dad. A few days after you left, a letter came to the apartment for you from Iron Heights. I opened it because…I wanted to know what was in it."

Felicity laughed, "Thank you for your honesty."

Oliver gave a half smile, "I'm trying."

Felicity looked down trying to stay focused. "What did it say?"

Oliver opened a drawer on her desk, took out a white envelope and handed it to her.

She held the envelope in her hand and traced the lines of it.

"Are you going to read it?"

"Probably, but not right now." She slipped the letter in her purse which was tucked under the desk.

Oliver nodded and leaned against the railing beside her station. "I'm not your father."

Felicity looked at him, "I know that. I do, but…" She tried to take a cleansing breath, "the hurt you both provided felt very similar. The feeling that I'm not good enough, like I can't be enough."

Oliver's eyes widened, "Felicity you are more then enough. More then I deserve."

Felicity pierced her lips before responding, she was trying very hard to think before she spoke, "My time in Bali gave me a lot of time for self-reflection. I have spent so much of life waiting to be left behind. The way my dad left, the way Cooper did and I was just waiting for you. I was waiting for you to see that I wasn't enough, that I wasn't the one you really wanted."

"But Felicity you are, you are all I want."

Felicity responded, "Maybe, but how do you want me? As your sidekick? As you silent partner?"

Oliver laughed, "I would never assume you to be silent."

Felicity glared, "You know what I mean. You left me out of your decisions. You went behind my back with William. Why? Because Samantha threatened you? I'm like an ultimate hacker, Oliver If she had tried to hide him a way, I would have found him! I wouldn't have rested until you were reunited with your son!

Oliver nodded, "I know that and I'm sorry, I just wasn't thinking straight. Honestly, I was scared. When we were all in Central City some things happened… it's too much to explain right now…but I was given some information that made me think you might leave me if you found out and I couldn't take that risk. I know now that hiding him from you was what would make you leave. "

"Ok," Felicity rose out of her chair and stood across from Oliver, her arms folded across her chest. Cleansing breaths, she thought. She then responded, "But then what about the decision to send him away? Why didn't you at least talk to me about that?"

"I don't know, Felicity, because that's not how I operate. My initialsinstinct is to go it alone, after 5 years on-"

"Oh cut the island crap, Oliver!" She yelled louder then she had meant and it caught them both by surprise.

"Excuse me?" Oliver asked and he moved closer to her, his eyes narrowed.

"One, you have told me enough for me to know you were not alone on an island for 5 years. You were on the island off and on for 5 years and rarely where you really alone! Two, 5 years then but over 4 years now you have not been alone. Diggle, Thea, Roy, Laurel and I have been here for you, part of a team with you!"

Oliver shook his head, "I know that but I was trained to not trust anyone, Felicity!"

"And you chose to keep that training or change your ways, Oliver! You had the choice of whether or not to trust me!"

"Like you trusted me?"

"What are you talking about?" Felicity felt her blood boiling, she knew she should be taking cleansing breaths right now but now her blood was starting to boil.

"When we went away and for 5 months you lied to me about helping the team!"

"I knew you were going to throw that in my face!"

"No, no I wasn't! I told you when I found out that I didn't care that you lied to me –"

"Well maybe you should have!" Felicity yelled at him again and closed the gap between them, "You shouldn't be ok with me hiding things from you, you deserve better than that too!"

Oliver and Felicity stared at each other, their noses almost touching. Oliver spoke first, "No one in this world can get under my skin like you."

"Right back at ya," she responded almost with a growl.

Oliver grabbed her by the shoulders and Felicity started to push away but then Oliver's mouth crushed against her and instead of pushing his chest she was gripping his biceps. The kiss was more than a kiss it was an attack. His hands went from her shoulders to his arm being wrapped around her entire body. His lips burned against her and she responded with equal amounts of aggression. He lifted her up and slammed her bottom down on the work station desk. Her legs automatically around his waist. His hands were in her hair, he pulled the hair band out and her hair fell down her back. She ripped his t-shirt as she left her hands run over his chest and abs. Their kisses grew deeper, she could feel her lips bruising and she made sure his lips were feeling the same. His hands then went up her thighs. She was wearing a red A-line wrap dress and his hands were moving the hem higher up. She reached for his pants, working to undo the fasteners. Felicity wasn't thinking, her mind was completely turned off and her body was in complete control. She had the fastener undone and her hands were breaching the band of his briefs when suddenly the moment was broken by a loud voice.

"Ok, I'm in position," Thea's voice called out over the com.

Felicity and Oliver immediately froze, their lips separated. They were both panting as they looked around the room, both of them trying to get their bearings.

"Hello?" Thea spoke again, "Anyone there?"

Oliver was the first to move and reached over to push the response button. "Yeah, we are here. What's your location?" He voice was broken by ragged breaths, Felicity was impressed he was able to talk at all.

She moved his hand that was still clamped on her hip and then went to the monitor. She logged in the area Thea responded with, "OK, there aren't a lot of traffic cameras in the area but there are a few security cameras, between the two we should be able to monitor her." Felicity's breath was starting to smooth out.

"We've got you Speedy, be careful." Oliver responded. He stood up and fastened the top button on his pants. He looked at Felicity and smiled, "So that just happened."

Felicity reached down on the ground to pick up her discarded ponytail holder and started to put her hair back up. Then she returned Oliver's gaze, "I'm glad it did."

"Me too," he said.

"We should probably discuss what that meant though."

Oliver crouched down beside her chair, "I'm pretty sure I said all I had to say, "he took Felicity's chin in his hand and traced her lips with his thumb. "But if you have anything to add I'm more than willing to listen."

His thumb slipped between her lips but she leaned back and let out a cleansing breath and smiled, "I think we've probably discussed enough for the night, if I'm going to monitor Speedy." Oliver smiled and stood up, "That's a shame." He turned and walked down the stairs of the platform.

"Where are you going?" Felicity heard the whine in her voice and wanted to kick herself.

Oliver didn't turn around as he walked down the steps, "To find another shirt."

Felicity turned back to the computer, "Oh yeah, good plan…" then under her breath she murmured, "I'll try not to rip that one off of you."

She gasped when she heard Oliver respond, "I won't mind if you do."

Disclaimer: I won nothing, but love all things Olicity and Arrow.

Writer's Note: Thank you for reading. This was my favorite chapter to write. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It took two weeks for the team to finally face Malcolm Merlyn. He had reappeared at Thea's apartment, wanting to explain his actions. He said he had "gone under within the Hive." Thea had been able to get a tracer on Malcolm and the team had come together to confront him. He had put up a fight and there had been causalities, Diggle had a new scar on his calf, courtesy of Malcolm's sword. Oliver had dislocated his shoulder and broken a few ribs. And Thea had to watch another parent die. It was a victory but not one to be celebrated. The few days following had been very somber.

Felicity and Oliver had not had any alone time, not since the weeks before when they had argued, yelled and had the best make out session of their lives. They weren't avoiding each other but like so often in their relationship there were other things that took precedent. Aside from assisting in tracking Malcolm, Felicity had been working hard at Palmer Tech. She was working with Curtis to provide the Power Cell to 3rd world countries, free of cost. If sustainable energy could reach some of these places it could be life changing, possibly world changing.

Felicity was feeling really good overall. There were still struggles and difficulties, but that was life. She wasn't feeling as overwhelmed as she had been. And tonight she was enjoying a glass of her favorite red wine and just being in the moment. When the knock at her door turned out to be Oliver Queen, she wasn't surprised or disappointed.

"Hi," he said. He looked tired but good.

"Hi," she said and turned to lead him in. "Would you like a glass of wine?"

He shook his head, "I'm good but thanks."

She smiled, sat on the couch and he joined her.

"What brings you by? Not that I'm not happy you are here."

Oliver looked her in the eye, "Malcolm is dead."

Felicity nodded.

"You said you would stay until he was dead and I was just wondering, what your plans are now?"

Felicity almost choked on her wine and spit out the drink she had just taken.

Oliver arch an eyebrow, "Are you ok?"

"I'm sorry," Felicity said and sat her wine glass on the coffee table before turning to face Oliver. "I have been so busy since I got back and have been making so much progress at Palmer Tech that I actually had forgot that I even said that."

Oliver let out a deep breath and his body seemed to relax, "So you're staying?"

Felicity gave a sharp nod, followed by a "yes."

"That's good, that's really good."

"Good," Felicity responded a small smile creeping across her lips. "Oliver, I know the last few months have been…" She wasn't sure how to even describe the last few months but he did.

"Hell."

She nodded, "That works."

"So where does that leave us?"

"I honestly don't know," She reached over and took his hand. "When you were making decisions about William without even talking to me, it really hurt."  
His fingers linked with hers, "You have to know that was never my intention, Felicity. I would never intend to hurt you."

She nodded, "I know that, but it happened, and you were right to tell me that you weren't my father. My father disappointed me time and time again, having had him recently come back only to disappoint me again, it left me feeling raw. And then with William to have that feeling of being left out and lied to by you, I panicked and I took off the ring because I just couldn't deal."

Oliver looked her in the eye and grasped her hand with his free one, "And now?"

"And now I've had time," Felicity took a deep breath, "I love you, which was never a question. I hope you know that."

"I do and I love you."

She smiled, not in a hundred years would she get tired of hearing her tell him that. "I know and that's why I think we should work on this. What we have is too good to let one issue destroy it. I am not saying that we can go back to where we were right away but I would like to start at getting back to that point."

Oliver reached over and kissed her lips softly, then without moving his head he said, "Thank you." The feeling of his lips moving against her, his breath entering her caused her whole body to feel electric.

She took his face in her hands and kissed him deeply. She then she moved off the couch and straddled his lap. His hands slid up her body and into her hair. Their mouths moved in sync and their tongues caressed one another. She raised her arms for him to slip off her shirt and then she unbuttoned his shirt and bowed her head down to trail a line of kisses down his chest. She ran her hands softly over the bandages he wore to keep his ribs in place. He groaned as her hands went down past the bandages and to his hips. Next thing she knew he was standing, her legs wrapped around him tightly and she kissed and nuzzled his neck. He took her up the staircase and to the bed they had once shared. When they got to the bed he lowered her down on it.

"God you are so beautiful," he said looking down at her.

She smiled at him, reached out to grab the waistband on his pants and pulled him on top of her.

"Have I ever told you, how good it feels to have you inside me?"

He smiled, his body on top of hers and her hips grinded up again his, memories of the past coming back and he lowered his lips to her ears and whispered, "You mean, my voice in your ear?"

She turned her face to his and he again kissed her. Her hands went down his body and quickly unfastened his pants and then took him in her hands, he gasped and looked at her. She responded in a low voice, "No, that's not what I mean this time."

THE END


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